Colorado has received a $5 million grant to train workers for technical skills’ jobs in information technology, advanced manufacturing, and the professional, scientific and technical services industries.
The grant – called Strategies to Advance Colorado’s Highly Skilled Workforce – is designed to help close “Colorado’s growing skills gap,” said Ellen Golombek, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor.
Golombek said many Coloradans lack the skills to compete in those industries and predicted the problem will only get worse in the years ahead “if action isn’t taken now.”
The initiative will target 797 workers statewide, upgrading their skills in information technology, advanced manufacturing and STEM (Scientific, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) capabilities.
Of the individuals selected, 558 will be incumbent workers whose skills need upgrading to ensure they stay employed. The grant will also speed the hire of 239 long-term unemployed workers.
A priority will be offered to veterans, minorities and women.
The Colorado Department of Labor noted that many employers who need workers with high skills can’t find them in Colorado.
It said that between January 2010 and the present, Colorado employers spent more than $19 million in H1-B visa fees to bring 5,761 foreign workers to fill job openings they couldn’t fill with Colorado workers. These included computer programmers, computer software engineers and IT analysts.
The Colorado Department of Labor said the initiative businesses will save nearly $3 million in visa costs and approximately $2.3 million in training costs that Colorado employers would have had to pay to keep their workforce competitive.
The department added that the grant’s return-on-investment for business and for Colorado exceeds $6 million for the four-year grant period of performance.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
